Templari

L’antica cattedrale e chiesa priorale cistercense di Sant’Antioco di Bisarcio, in agro di Ozieri (ante 1073 - 1195),  rappresenta uno dei migliori monumenti del romanico in Sardegna. La ricerca focalizza una serie di decori, in particolare del secondo e terzo ordine della facciata della chiesa, sola sopravvivenza di un partito architettonico segnato da un fulmine nel 1471. Nella ideale ricostruzione dell’intero prospetto si riconosce un grande inedito fregio in forma di croce commissa, qui definito ‘della Esaltazione della Santa Croce’. Tra i numerosi riscontri di questa ipotesi è la stessa Festa dell’Esaltazione che scandisce le attività del calendario benedettino, e l’epigrafe commemorativa della fabbrica della galilea, che in forma di croce riferisce il nome di magister Paulu illuminato e ispirato cistercense, impegnato a Bisarcio  nel 1190/95, tra suggestioni templari e influenze pisane. 
The ancient cathedral and prioral Cistercian church of Sant’Antioco di Bisarcio, in the countryside of Ozieri (ante 1073 - 1195), represents one of the finest monuments of Romanesque architecture in Sardinia. The research focuses on a series of decorations, in particular of the top level of the face of the church, the only surviving side of the facade devastated by a lightening strike in 1471. In the theoretical reconstruction of the entire facade we recognize a large, undocumented frieze in the form of a Tau cross, here defined as ‘of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross’. Among the various arguments of this hypothesis is the very same Feast of the Exaltation which marks various activities on the Benedictine calendar, and the commemorative epigraph on the galilée, which, in the form of a cross, provides the name of magister Paulu enlightened and inspired Cistercian, who worked at Bisarcio between 1190/95, according to Templar suggestions and Pisan influences.

The dissertation, titled La committenza artistica dei Templari e degli Ospitalieri in Emilia Romagna, tries, through a multidisciplinary approach, to reconstruct the artistic heritage of two monastic and chivalrous Orders in the region. The dissertation was conceived in order to reflect, also in the structural level, the survey methodology: the first chapter was dedicated to an historical analysis of the two Orders, with particular attention to the relation between them and the art-world; the second chapter, instead, was focused on the relating artistic historiography and on a challenging archive investigations, that, above all through the use of an extensive and unpublished documentation, permitted to reveal new elements for a better understanding of the settlements’ net and their decoration. The research continued with the specific historic and artistic reconstruction of the commanderies: through a survey about the specific settlements, I tried to point out the artistic and historic events of its protagonists. Subsequently, without claiming to draw conclusions in a work that necessarily is in becoming, I developed some reflections on the nature, the limits, the characteristics and developments of the artistic patronage. Finally, the card’s stylistic analysis completed my investigation, giving meaning to the historic and documentary surveys. In this way I rediscovered an extensive and articulated artistic heritage that combines masterpieces and more modest works, but in any case capable of delineating the history of their authors (some of them, like Aristotele Fioravanti, Girolamo da Treviso, Pietro Bembo and Ranuccio Farnese, real protagonists of the time), in a continue and substantial dialogue with the artistic cultures that crossed the region, and not only the region, between Middle Age and Early Modernity.

"Knjiga koja je pred nama, pod naslovom In nomine Dei: Kratka istorija krstaških ratova, zajedničko je delo nekoliko autora. Oni su svoj zadatak shvatili veoma široko, pa su dužnu pažnju posvetili i predistoriji krstaških pokreta tako što su dali kratak pregled stanja i događaja u istoriji Vizantije, latinskih država zapadne Evrope i muslimanskog sveta. Sve je to učinjeno u nastojanju da se budući čitaoci na pravi način uključe u epohu krstaških ratova i da bolje razumeju njihove tokove. Pisci knjige su pri tom izbegli opasnost da budu preširoki i da tako naruše unutrašnju strukturu i kompoziciju celine. Posebnu dragocenost ove knjige čine izvanredne ilustracije za koje njeni autori zaslužuju sve pohvale.

Ova knjiga, između ostalog, trebalo bi i da razbije uobičajene predrasude da su krstaški ratovi bili jedino motivisani koristoljubivim razlozima, a njihovi učesnici isključivo avanturisti i bezemljaši željni pljačkanja. Naime, još su žive snažne predrasude čiji tvorci u krstaškim ratovima vide samo pljačkaške poduhvate i versku zatucanost. Pri tome se zaboravlja na jednu od elementarnih naučnih istina o tome da je Srednji vek zaista bio epoha vere, ali "doba vere" i u najplemenitijem značenju tog izraza.

Prof. dr Radivoj RADIĆ
Filozofski fakultet Beograd

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Krstaški ratovi su jedan od najzanimljivijih fenomena, ne samo u istoriji srednjeg veka, već u celokupnoj istoriji čovečanstva. Ova tema ne prestaje da pobuđuje zanimanje kako stručnjaka tako i šire čitalačke publike. Knjiga obuhvata period od 1095. godine i sabora u Klermonu, do tragičnog kraja Luja IX Svetog avgusta 1270. Osnovnu nit knjige dopunjuju i kratki pregledi istorija Vizantije, zapadne Evrope i muslimanskog sveta.

Autori su uspeli da svojim zanimljivim opisima najvažnijih bitaka i pojava oblikuju knjigu koja čitaoce neće ostaviti ravnodušnim. Pored ratova, naročito je istaknut dvosmerni uticaj koje će dve sukobljene kulture ostvariti jedna na drugu. Susret istoka i zapada nije se ograničio i završio ratovima, nastavio je da traje i da se prožima. Pored brojnih ilustracija tekst je obogaćen i istorijskim kartama koje bliže određuju geografski prostor krstaških ratova."

In 2016, during the repairing of a wall in the churchyard of San Fermo Maggiore in Verona, an imposing sarcophagus was discovered. Made of sandstone quarried in the nearby hills, the badly flaked tomb bears illegible inscriptions but also a well-preserved cross pattée with point inserted in the bottom arm at both ends, an image closely associated with Templar tombs. As we will see, there are powerful reasons to link this burial to Arnau of Torroja, Master of the Knights Templar, who died in the city in September 1184. This article will give a brief outline of Arnau’s career and explain why he came to be in Verona, together with an analysis of the important presence of the order in the twelfth century with all its properties in the same area of the city, later acquired by the Hospitallers. The article will then follow the scientific trail linking Arnau of Torroja to the bones found in the tomb, which could be the first tomb ever discovered of a Master of the Knights Templar.

The study, developed in three parts, starting from the "corridor of Nazareth", is a contribution to try to formulate hypotheses concerning the place that may have hosted, albeit briefly, the Shroud and, subsequently or at the same time, the holy house of Theotokos. This research aims to reconstruct the ancient "Way of Angels", located between the Duchy of Athens, the Thessaly and the Epirus, one of the four itineraries-the third, in chronological order-followed by the transport of the holy house before his arrival in Loreto. It also aims to provide information on the disputed passage of the Shroud to Athens, highlighting the fundamental elements that unite the two relics (the Shroud and the holy house of Loreto). The study provides new evaluation terms in order to encourage the reflection and reconstruction of possible voids of history, to learn about the ancient fortresses of Thessaly, through the analysis and interpretation of the ancient symbols present in the monasteries and byzantine churches of the 12th and 13th centuries, milestones in the epic of the imperial family of the Comnenos and, later, of the Angel Ducas Comneno.

Područje grada Dugo Selo u pisanim se dokumentima prvi puta spominje 1209. godine kada je hrvatsko-ugarski kralj Andrija II. templarima darovao Zemlju svetoga Martina (terra sancti Martini). Ta se zemlja prostirala uz rijeku Zelinu istočno od Zagreba. Njezino ime svjedoči da je još prije dolaska templara ovdje stajala crkva sv. Martina, prema kojoj je posjed dobio svoje ime Zemlja sv. Martina. Crkva je vjerojatno nastala u 9. stoljeću, u vrijeme kada su ovim krajevima kršćanstvo širili franački misionari. Zbog osobitosti njezina položaja i njezinih prostornih odnosa prema drugim mjestima sa znakovitim toponimima može se pretpostaviti da je sveti Martin tijekom procesa pokrštavanja na ovome mjestu preslojio starije slavensko pogansko božanstvo, gromovnika Peruna. Iz dokumenata se vidi da su templari (i iza njih ivanovci) na tom prostranom posjedu (Zemlji sv. Martina) imali svoju kuću (domus) koja je bila sjedište njihove organizacijske jedinice, preceptorata Sv. Martina. Nažalost, iz pisanih izvora nije moguće doznati gdje se ta kuća nalazila. Najlogičnijom se nametnula pretpostavka da se kuća nalazila uz crkvu Sv. Martina na Prozorju (Martin Bregu) sjeverno od Dugoga Sela. Templarski je red nastao najvjerojatnije 1119. godine u Jeruzalemu, a prvotna mu je zadaća bila čuvanje putova za Jeruzalem i obrana hodočasnika. Red je vrlo brzo došao na dobar glas te je naglo rastao, i po broju članova i po mnoštvu darovanih posjeda koje je dobivao uglavnom od vladara širom Europe. Osobito je snažno rastao nakon što mu je sv. Bernard od Clairvauxa sastavio Pravila 1128. godine, a papa Inocent II. ih iduće godine stavio pod svoju zaštitu. Vrlo su brzo došli i u Hrvatsku. Najraniji poznati njihov spomen u Hrvatskoj potječe iz 1163. godine. Na temelju povijesnih dokumenata i njihove interpretacije u literaturi, u knjizi se raspravlja o templarskoj prisutnosti u dugoselskome kraju. Najveća je pažnja posvećena ostacima/ruševinama crkve Sv. Martina na Martin Bregu. Na tom se lokalitetu već nekoliko godina provode sustavna arheološka istraživanja. Utvrđeno je da je jezgra današnje crkve nastala u drugoj polovici 15. stoljeća u kasnogotičkome stilu, a crkva je i kasnije doživjela brojne pregradnje i dogradnje. Utvrđeni su i temelji starijih faza crkve, među kojima se osobito ističu temelji potpornjaka svetišta starije gotičke crkve te temelj vjerojatno još romaničke apside. Opisuju se i pojedini zidovi građeni opekama romaničkoga formata. Premda prevladavaju arheološki nalazi iz novoga vijeka, što nije čudno s obzirom da se unutar i oko crkve pokopavalo sve do nedavno, sve je više nalaza koji potječu iz vremena kada su ovdje gospodarili viteški redovi. Važniji je nalaz ulomak S-karičice koja možda potječe iz nekog uništenog, čak još predtemplarskoga groba, te osobito nalazi slavonskog banovca (srebrni denar kovan između 1310.-1316. godine) i kamene nadgrobne ploče s uklesanim štitom i mačem koja svojim značajkama ukazuje na svoj nastanak krajem 13. ili početkom 14. stoljeća, upravo u vrijeme kada templare u posjedu ove Zemlje nasljeđuju ivanovci. Donose se i sažeti prikazi antropoloških analiza ljudskog kosturnoga materijala iz grobova iz kojih valja izdvojiti brojne uočene smrtne rane nastale sječivima hladnoga oružja. Prikazuju se i osnovni rezultati georadarskoga istraživanja dijelova arhitekture. Jedan od posebnih zadataka bio je odrediti mjesto na kojem se nekoć nalazila templarska te potom ivanovačka kuća (domus). U vezi s tim osobita se pažnja poklanja i crkvi Sv. Brcka u obližnjim Brckovljanima te još neutvrđenom položaju kasnijega kaštela Božjako. Templarski je kraj započeo vjerojatno lažnim glasinama 1304. godine o svetogrđima koja su navodno templari činili. 1307. godine naređena su njihova uhićenja a slijedila su mučenja i suđenja. Red je konačno ukinut 1312. godine. Posljednje isprave templara u Hrvatskoj tiču se upravo svetomartinskog preceptorata. Ukidanje templarskoga reda u Hrvatskoj išlo je polako i ništa se dramatično nije dogodilo, a njihovi su posjedi papinskom odredbom prešli u ruke ivanovaca. Ivanovci, u mnogočemu veoma slični templarima, u hrvatske su krajeve došli gotovo istovremeno. Ivanovci su također dobivali velike posjede od vladara i drugoga plemstva te su ih organizirali u preceptorate. Takvom organizacijskom jedinicom upravljao je preceptor čija je osnovna zadaća bila upravljati posjedima radi stjecanja čim većih prihoda za potrebe ivanovaca u Svetoj zemlji. Ionako velik broj njihovih posjeda još je više narastao nakon što su preuzeli i templarske posjede. Od 1364. godine se za skup svih preceptorata u hrvatsko-ugarskome kraljevstvu u ispravama počinje javljati i naziv Vranski priorat. Pitanje odlaska ivanovaca iz Hrvatske, pa tako i s promatranog preceptorata, mnogo je složenije, jer se s formalnopravnoga gledišta pojam vranskoga priorata rastegnuo daleko dulje kroz povijest nakon što su ivanovci zauvijek napustili hrvatske prostore. Čini se da je već od oko 1380. godine, na početku velike papinske shizme, kralj postavljao priore te je tako pomalo nastajao samostalan red, koji više nije imao mnogo zajedničkoga s ostatkom ivanovačkoga reda sa sjedištem na otoku Rodu. Jedan od ivanovačkih preceptorata bio je stari templarski Sv. Martin, čije se sjedište nalazilo u kući Sv. Martina. Kod ubiciranja njihove kuće pojavljuje se još više nepoznanica, jer mnogi autori smatraju da su ivanovci vremenom sagradili novu kuću, možda nezadovoljni stanjem ili položajem stare templarske kuće. Crkva Sv. Martina se u njihovo vrijeme počinje javljati i u povijesnim dokumentima, i to kao ecclesia beatissimi Martini in possessione cruciferorum ("crkva blaženoga Martina u posjedu križnika"). U ovoj se knjizi prikazuju arhitektonski ostaci gotičke crkve s potpornjacima na završetku svetišta, koja je djelomično sagrađena na temeljima romaničke građevine te pojedini pokretni nalazi preostali iz ivanovačkoga vremena, pronađeni na istraživanome lokalitetu. Uz ulomke gotičke arhitekture pronađene u urušenjima, vrijedi spomenuti i sitne novce kovane za kralja Žigmunda (1387. – 1437.), te pfenige iz sredine 15. stoljeća koji su pronađeni između oltarne baze i zida u sjevernoj sakristiji. Na kraju knjige posvećena je dužna pažnja i mlađim, novovjekovnim nalazima otkrivenima na području crkve Sv. Martina. Riječ je prvenstveno o novcima, svetačkim medaljica, križićima-privjescima, ostacima krunica te gumbima, kopčicama i sličnim dodacima koji su bili prišiveni na odjeću u kojoj su pokojnici bili pokopani. Arheološka istraživanja se nastavljaju.

in “Marca/Marche”, 4 (2015), pp. 144-169.

Prime presenze nelle Marche - Il Duecento - Decime e precettori - Il Trecento: requisizioni e processi - Soppressione dei Templari - Un ultimo sguardo alle Marche - Inventari dei beni - Quadro di sintesi.

Quaderno n. 5 –– Conferenze 1998, stampato per conto del Circolo da De Bastiani ed., Vittorio Veneto, ottobre 1998 –– Sommario: (1) IMPERIO Loredana, La Seconda Crociata: 1147-1149 pp. 1-21; (2) TOMASI Giovanni, L’elemento germanico del Dialetto Cenedese pp.  21-26; (3) PEZZELLA Nicola, L’architettura sacra dei Templari nella Francia centro-meridionale pp. 27-34; (4) NETTO Giovanni, Il Lottatore. Prese il posto del “giocatore di volata” allo Stadio dei Marmi pp. 35-50; (5) RUZZA Vincenzo, 1848 pp. 51-56; (6) ZOCCOLETTO Giorgio, Il conduttor elettrico di S. Francesco della Vigna (titolo della conferenza: Il Parafulmine, un'invenzione veneziana) pp. 57-80; (7) RUZZA Vincenzo, Statuti di Ceneda e Serravalle pp. 81-115; (8) GUSSO Massimo, Edipo in Giallo. Una rilettura di Sofocle pensando ad Agatha Christie pp. 117-141

Solo una indagine accurata di natura artistico-archeologica degli apparati, delle concetrazioni delle simbologie iconografiche presenti nella miriade più disparata di USM delle strutture architettoniche monastiche può portare in termini pressoché scientifici alla corretta individuazione dei significati profondi: di croci patenti o taumate, di calvari stilizzati, di fiori di lys, d' agnus Dei, di triplici cinte, di labirinti, di nodi di Salomone, di sator, di sirene bicaudate, di Baphomet. Apparati omogenei di Usm di decorazione lapidea di "carattere templare", presenti a s. Rabano, a s. Galgano, a s. Salvatore sul Monte Amiata, a sant' Antimo, nella pieve di Corsignani, a s. Pietro a Villore, a s. Giovanni d' Asso, nel duomo di Sovana, a santa Maria in Capita, nella pieve di Confini, a santa Maria Maggiore in Tuscania, nella badia Ardentesca di s. Lorenzo al Lanzo, in santa Maria di Montepiano, in santa Maria Assunta di s. Quirico, in s. Domenico di Trisulti, in s. Domenico di Sora, rivelano senz' altro che furono i Templari a manovrare e finanziare maestranze ad uso della propria e dell' altrui committenza, molte di queste avevano acquisito una grande esperienza soprattutto in Francia e talune furono predilette in modo speciale dai cavalieri del Tempio.


Only an accurate investigation of the iconographic apparatuses of the symbols which are present in the myriad of Wall Stratigraphic Units (WSU) of monastic architectural structures, can lead to the correct meanings of patent c of the pantent and taumate crosses, stylized Calvaries, Fleur-de-lis, Agnus Dei, labyrinths, Solomon' s Knots, Sator Squares, Baphomet, and so forth. Homogenous stone decorations of WSUs of "Templar character", present at the abbeys of San Galgano, Rabano, San Salvatore di Monte Amiata, s. Salvatore on Mount Amiata, San Domenico di Trisulti, and many other church buildings in Italy, undoubtedly reveal that the Templars were the ones who manoeuvred and financed workers for the use of their own and other patrons, many of them had acquired great experience especially in France and some of them were especially favoured by the Knights of the Temple.
Collane:
Studia Archaeologica, 239
ISBN: 9788891320346
Rilegatura: Brossura
Pagine: 280
Formato: 17 x 24 cm

The Journals of Prince Henry Sinclair and his descendants (20 books and a lambskin map) were found by accident in 2005 in a dusty dirty basement in Greeneville, TN. They then lay in a trunk in the back of the closet for almost 9 years before the author realized what she had. Translating the journals from Latin, Old English, and modern English she soon learned the story of her own 17th great-grandfather, Prince Henry Sinclair of Orkney and Scotland. Join the author and her great-grandfathers on a voyage of discovery as you learn about the covenant made between the St. Clair/Sinclair and Wemyss family, the Templars, the Native Americans, and the Freemasons. Travel with us as we search for the artifacts mentioned in the journals and validate the story. Book 1 of 10, tells the story of Henry as a young boy from the age of 8 in 1353 until 1395 when he plans a voyage with Captain Nicolo Zeno and his son Antonio Zeno to Greenland and beyond.

"Why did King Philip the Fair of France attack the Order of the Temple ? A New Covenant"
The affair of the Templars has most often been considered in ways whose logic derive from the indictment of the Order by the King of France. Thus historians have mainly focused on the elements in the history of the Templars that could account for their final arrest and trial. However, the reasons for the trial, which have always remained obscure, are better understood if attention is focused not on the Order, as is always the case in historiography, but rather on its accusers, on their actions and on their justifications as they are explicitly stated or can be analysed in the documents. The present article offers a synthesis of a new interpretation. Three causes emerge, all of which were indispensable but none of which would have been sufficient, without the other two, to determine the Capetian’s attack on the Templars. First, the paroxysmal crisis in relations between the French royalty and the Roman Church that began a few years before the Temple affair, whose culmination and final stage the affair represented. Second, the political strategy and personal interests of Philip the Fair’s main adviser on ecclesiastical matters, Guillaume de Nogaret. Finally, the political and mystical significance of accusations of heresy against an Order that was believed to have been founded on the very site of Solomon’s Temple and that had been surrounded by an eschatological aura since its origins.

Il testo qui presentato è una miscellanea di appunti raccolti dall’autore con l’idea di scrivere un articolo compilatorio sulla presenza degli Ordini Cavallereschi a Venezia; l’autore però, per varie ragioni, ha abbandonato l’idea di sviluppare questa ricerca e quindi pubblica questa miscellanea con l’intento di rendere disponibili le informazioni ed i dati finora raccolti a chi voglia cimentarsi in uno studio sistematico sui rapporti tra gli Ordini Cavallereschi e lo Stato veneziano.

in «Studi Maceratesi», 47 (2013), pp. 149-192.

Prima del 1333 - Inventari del 1333 - La valle del Tronto - Fermano - Il Maceratese e l’alto Anconetano - Ancona e Pesaro - Nuovi insediamenti - Inchiesta sugli Ospitalieri nel 1373 - Ultime devoluzioni - Unioni ospitaliere del 1453 - Precettoria di S. Marco di Fano -Precettoria di S. Filippo al Piano di Osimo - Precettoria di S. Egidio di Pontelatrave -Precettoria di S. Agata di Fermo - Precettoria S. Giovanni di Ascoli - Altre precettorie -Considerazioni finali - Insediamenti all’inizio del XIV secolo.

Appendice documentaria.

Immagini.

Templar settlements in Istria and Dalmatia and relationships with Western Adriatic side
The presence of the Templars in Croatian territory in general, and in the Dalmatian and Istrian ones particularly, is due to the role played by this transit area to the Holy Land, both by sea and by land. Very important were the settlements in the coastal towns, primarily the port of Senj, for connections to the Italian Adriatic cites. Especially favourable to the Templars were the kings of Hungary taking under their protection the Order with the largess of a plurality of donations, not only landed property, but entire fief or cities. For their part, the Templars were always men of confidence of both the Arpad dynasty and the Angevin one. The main Templar centre in Dalmatia was the domus of Vrana, a Benedictine monastery converted into a fortress by knights. Unfortunately, relations with the Templars and the inhabitants of the centres in which they settled and got in fief were not always good, just think of the difficulties encountered in Senj, Klis and Šibenik which forced the Order to abandon these places with heavy economic damage, especially for the loss of Senj that granted considerable revenue for rights of the ships docked in the harbour. After dealing with templar presence in Dalmatia and Istria, the relationships between the two sides of Adriatic sea involving Templars were examined finding three categories. The first kind includes economic and trading relationships or exchanges such as the shipping of wheat from Apulia to Zara, or the shipment of legumes in the province of Hungary, or freighting of Dalmatian ships by Templars in Apulia. The second category concerns relationships between Dalmatian and Istrian templar settlements and the Republic of Venice; while the last one takes in consideration relationships about templar knights’ international mobility changing task in the Order or for diplomatic missions mostly after the rise of the Angevin dynasty, which already ruled in Southern Italy, in the Kingdom of Hungary.

This paper investigates new local sources preserved in the Archiepiscopal Archive of Ravenna, Italy, regarding the local trial of the Templars by Archbishop Rinaldo da Concorezzo in 1310-1311. Going against the instructions of Pope Clemens V, Rinaldo decided not to use the torture to extract confessions for the local trial. 
As a result of it, all Templar brothers were acquitted of all the charges of heresy and corruption.
The refuse of using the torture during this trial is an innovative decision, many centuries before Cesare Beccaria and the Enlightment.

While winds were gathering for a new crusade for recapture Holy Land, Archbishop Rinaldo da Concorezzo, Dante Alighieri, who sided with the Templars in a comment in Purgatory on their trial, and Templar brother Peter from Bologna were all living in Ravenna in those years.
Peter was the general attorney of the Templar Order at the main trial in Paris, and I will discuss in the paper if Rinaldo da Concorezzo may have helped him to escape Paris after the first part of the Trial, when some of them were sentenced to death.
While historians have for centuries searched in vain to identify Peter from Bologna, I seem to have found documentary evidence on his life that brings the mystery to light with a strong connection with the life of Archbishop Rinaldo who considered Templar brothers innocents.

This sigillographic (sphragistic) study will review the historic and archaeological two-knight seals of the Templars, and the investigation of a curious and probably unique seal die or matrix. Our accurately molded (though slightly altered) two-knight Templar design seal matrix was recently acquired from an old collection. The matrix consists of a silver die with a reverse-side iron spike, apparently for insertion into a wooden handle. We determined that the exact item that was molded to produce the silver die is a wax seal apparently used by German Templar Master Friedrich Wildgraf in 1289, and now held by the Munich State Archives. The original seal matrix used to make that seal is not believed to exist, and the present recreated matrix is likely to be the only one of its type, still able to impress wax seals as made by the Templars.

ABSTRACT
On the night of the 13th of February 1308, exactly four months after the general arrest of the Knights Templars in France on the order of King Philip IV the Fair, Giacomo da Montecucco, the master of the Templar province of northern Italy and a cubicularius of Pope Clement V, escaped from the papal Curia. A direct source provides us with a detailed account of Clement’s special frustration and great wrath after Giacomo’s flight. The master of Lombardy’s defection, it is suggested here, could hardly have come at a worse time, because it thwarted the strategy recently adopted by the pope in what had become a trial of strength with the king of France. This paper examines the meaning of this episode in the light of a general interpretation of the Templar affair.

Keywords: Templar Order - Trial of the Templars - Clement V - Philip the Fair of France

E. ANGIOLINI, Percorsi archivistici per la storia dell’ordine Templare, in Indagini e ricerche alla Magione templare di Bologna, Atti del convegno (Bologna, 5-6 febbraio 2016), A cura di E. ANGIOLINI, Bologna, Deputazione di storia patria per le province di Romagna, 2017 (Documenti e studi, Vol. XLI), pp. 5-20.

Da secoli i Templari affascinano e incuriosiscono. Intorno a loro sono fiorite leggende di ogni tipo, spesso fantasiose e dense di intrighi. Ma chi erano veramente i membri di questo ordine cavalleresco? Che cosa ne causò lo scioglimento? Andiamo alla ricerca della realtà dietro il mito